Black Cat Vol. #5 (of 6)

By: Bryan Morton
Review Date: Thursday, June 12, 2008
Release Date: Monday, June 09, 2008



What They Say
It is the eve of the battle between the Chronos Numbers and the Apostles of the Star, and an understudy has stepped onto the stage. This stray alliance follows the code of the Sweeper. Creed Diskenth has unleashed new and terrible forces onto the world, having damned it as corrupt. For this, he must be punished. But as Black Cat extends the hand of salvation at the hour of defeat, the curse will be to live out a life of repentance... Life, not death.

Episodes Comprise
17 - The Napping Cat
18 - The Cat Deploys
19 - The Sprinting Cat
20 - The Cat's Showdown


The Review!
The showdown between Creed and Train arrives a volume earlier than I thought it would, and with a more low-key outcome than I thought it would, leaving one question ringing in my head when all is said and done: "Isn't she dead?!"

Audio:
Audio comes in Japanese 2.0 and English 5.1 versions - I listened to the Japanese track for this review. There's a decent amount of direction used, particularly noticeable during the action scenes, while dialogue and effects are nice & clear. There were no obvious problems.

Video:
Video is presented in its original 1.78:1 aspect, enhanced for anamorphic playback. Presentation has always been one of GONZO's strong points, and this series is no exception, with fluid animation and detailed backgrounds combining to produce a show which really does look good. Even the low-light scenes - of which there are plenty - manage to look good, with some nice use of lighting that highlights the scenes nicely. There were no obvious problems with the transfer.


Packaging:
No packaging was provided with our review copy.

Menu:
The main menu is a simple grey screen, with an image of Shaolee on the left-hand-side and the various options listed down the right-hand side - Play All, Select Episode, Setup and Extras. There are no transition animations, so it's all quick and easy to use.

Extras:
You get creditless versions of the opening and closing sequences. That's all, folks.

Content: (please note that content portions of a review will contain spoilers)
Kraken Island - the place where Creed and his Apostles are based, and the next stop of Train's journey. It's also a place that the Chronos Numbers are interested - Creed is, or was, one of their own after all - but instead of tackling him themselves, they're taking another approach, by manipulating sweepers into doing their dirty work for them. Train exposing Chronos' manipulation causes the sweepers to have their doubts - but while they argue about whether to continue with the mission or not, Creed is receiving an "upgrade" that could well make him unbeatable. Meanwhile, Train seems to have gathered himself another unwelcome admirer. Before that, though, there's the small detail of a woman in the mountains who looks a lot like Saya for Train to deal with...

Now, I don't want to place too much emphasis on Saya's appearances over the course of this volume - and there are several - but she's playing rather an active role for a dead girl. "Dead" does appear to be the correct description, as she usually appears in a suitably spectral form, but it does raise the whole issue of whether we're about to see a miraculous return. I hope not - much as I love the character, I've long held that the dead should stay that way, but with this volume not being quite up to the standard I've come to expect of Black Cat, I'm beginning to wonder.

As for "not up to the standard"... The first volume here, which is almost wholly focussed on Train, is easily the best of the bunch: it's a character piece, pure and simple, and it gives Train time to think about what important to him before going into battle against Creed for what should be the last time. It's good stuff, and well up to the standard of the rest of the series.

The remaining three episodes, though, quickly turn into a long-running fight of the sort that plagues so many shounen series. Now, with Black Cat being adapted from a manga that ran in Shounen Jump, home of the likes of Naruto and Bleach, I should probably have been prepared for the possibility - but the series has managed to steer away from that sort of stereotypical storyline for four volumes now, and it's a real shame that the good record goes out of the window so close to the finish line. Creed's "powerup" turns him from a dangerous man with an obsession into a cookie-cutter villain with an immortality complex, while the Chronos Numbers almost all fail to live up to their billing as the world's most effective assassins. Add in Saya's personal creed ("don't kill unless you want to") becoming the general creed for all Sweepers to live by, and you get a closing battle that goes on far too long and fails to really deal with any of the villains, leaving their morals as the only things keeping them from becoming repeat offenders. It just doesn't seem right, and leaves me fully expecting the final volume to be more of the same. I'll be happy to be proven wrong.

In summary:
There's nothing quite as frustrating as seeing a series that's been almost a joy for most of its run suddenly head down a path you don't want it to go down - and that's what's happened with this volume of Black Cat. The extended battle that plays out here is out-of-keeping with most of what the series has done up to this point, and that makes the disc something of a disappointment. Hopefully the final volume will make amends.

Features
Japanese Language 2.0,English Language 5.1,English Subtitles,Creditless Opening & Closing Sequences

Review Equipment
Toshiba 37X3030DB 37" widescreen HDTV; Sony PS3 Blu-ray player (via HDMI, upscaled to 1080p); Acoustic Solutions DS-222 5.1 speaker system.